Mark of destiny

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An extension to the roleplaying bonus feature, Arelith includes two "marks" which optionally make death a little more permanent than before. The idea behind this is that characters who would normally simply respawn after dying, can be given a definite end.

The Mark of Destiny (MoD) can be selected upon character creation. Everyone may qualify for a Mark of Destiny, and once given they cannot be removed, except to be replaced by a Mark of Despair. The Mark grants an additional 20 experience points per in-game hour (6 minutes in real life), which is stacked on top of any Roleplaying Bonus experience that may also be achieved that hour. So someone with a rating of 20 will acquire 40 experience points every hour.

There is a tradeoff though - that character will be limited to exactly 10 deaths. This is deaths, not respawns. It does not however include deaths in an Arena area (areas with the PvP Flag enabled), nor does it include deaths that are averted by divine interventions. Once the character has died 10 times, they can never again be seen on Arelith. That character will not go to the Death area; instead they will simply be deleted. Not even Resurrection or Raise Dead spells will restore them. Each time that character dies, the player will be notified as to how many more times they are allowed to die before being deleted.

MoD is an OOC concept. Characters are not aware of having it or of other PCs having it. Knowledge about PCs having MoD or not, should never ever influence characters decisions IC. It is not acceptable to ask for special treatment from other players based on possession of MoD, be it in character or out of character.

The Mark of Despair is exactly the same as the Mark of Destiny, however it does not add 20 experience points every hour. This is used by DMs to punish those who make no effort to roleplay, and instead spend all their time tackling the monster encounters for experience and levels. Players may, however, request a Mark of Despair from a DM at any level, should they wish to retire their character at some point in the future.

The Marks are intended to make death more meaningful, whilst still allowing those who enjoy roleplaying their characters in dangerous situations to respawn indefinitely. On implementation, the community did initially react with some controversy, but for those who roleplay at all on Arelith, either Mark is entirely optional. The addition has been especially applauded by those who play characters who tend not to enter dangerous situations, as the extra experience from the Mark of Destiny gives them more reward and incentive for simply roleplaying socially with others.